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"At last, the prefecturals start tomorrow! Everyone, please make sure to get plenty of rest today! And that means, no swimming today, Jun-senpai!" Kou let out a shriek as she forced the boys to hold Jun's arms in order to not let her jump into the pool. It was quite a sight to see them struggling with a girl, carefully Makoto held her arm to ensure he didn't touch her inappropriately. Kou sighed. "Anyway, we'll meet tomorrow in front of the venue at 8 am sharp! Tardiness is strictly prohibited. Is everyone ready?"
Nagisa showed her a peace. "Totally! We're fired up and ready to go!"
Jun stopped struggling. "Natsu?"
"Who's Natsu?" Haru questioned her only to receive a shrug from Makoto and Kou.
"We even got our new matching swimsuits!" Nagisa pulled Jun's hand to wiggle his hips against hers and Rei. Ah, apparently, few days ago, Nagisa and those two went for a shopping to find new swimsuits, specifically for this tournament and boy, he was really excited to see Jun spending her rich money like a rich man he always saw in movies. That's why he loved to go shopping with her, because she's rich rich and God only knew how much she had spent on that day, that girl was generous enough to pay for their expenses and Nagisa was willing to go again with her because she's rich!
Makoto only laughed at the way Nagisa exaggerated about Jun's bank account and proudly showed off his new swimsuit, saying he would wear it only for tournaments. "Jun-chan is so rich, Mako-chan! You should have seen the way she grabbed all the things without looking at the prices and swiped her card effortlessly!" Jun raised an eyebrow at him, started to think that maybe Nagisa was being friendly with her because of her wealth but then again, she didn't mind. She would love to waste the royal's money.
The tallest member smiled. "Okay, okay, settle down. Let's go over the schedule one more time, alright? The first day will be for individual events and the second day is the relay. Our entries in the individual events are, Nagisa in the 100m breaststroke, Rei, the 100m butterfly." Haru will swim for both 100m and 200m freestyle and Makoto will do the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle. That was unexpected of him to suddenly enter the freestyle event. But moving on, Jun will enter both 100m and 200m butterfly.
"Oh, will you be joining the individual medley too?" Ama-sensei asked the only girl swimmer in the team.
Jun hummed softly as Kou nodded her head, definitely she will enter it as it would be such a waste for Jun to not grab the opportunity. Knowing her, Jun would win the tournament easily, she was a monster. Jun made an offended face when Kou called her a monster, but she didn't take it to heart after all she knew she meant good. Jun was just too good. "Dang, you're right." The older girl patted Kou on the head and the junior giggled cutely, loving the affection she showered her.
Ama-sensei smiled. "Then, you definitely will be a great athlete in the future. You should write it on the occupational form."
Jun froze for a while, soon she could only shrug her shoulders. "Sure." However, she knew she could never have that as her ambition, she was born for the throne or at least, groomed to be the Ruler of a country. She should not bear any low class dream—her beloved mother's words and she could not escape her destiny as she chose it personally. For her brother, she sacrificed herself for the throne and in return, he was free to do anything he wanted, to live like a commoner.
Tomorrow morning, as instructed by Kou, they all met at the venue on time and Jun was having a hard time to cover her face from the embarrassment her father would give her when he started to wail and cry in the public. Said he was extremely nervous for his princess, clinging on to her like he's clinging to the edge of life. Perhaps, she should just push him off the cliff. Dang, she should have done that. Jun suppressed another groan as Nagisa decided to copy her father and attached himself to her side like the old man.
"Jun-chan!"
"Junnie!"
Her two hands forcefully pushed those faces away from her. "Such a nuisance! Begone, thot!" It really felt like she now had two annoying little brothers, and somewhere far from them, she could see Lucas laughing at her in amusement. She rolled her eyes and looked over to Rei, Makoto and Haru, making grabby hands for their help. For goodness sake, she can't shake them off of her. "You're both heavy you know that!?" But the boys didn't dare to put their hands on her father as he was glaring at them as if he already reserved their coffins.
"Ah, get off me! Or I will not buy you Iwatobi bread anymore, Nagisa! And you, I won't sit down with you to watch Attack on Titan again!"
Nagisa gasped loudly. "But Jun-chan—you can't do that!"
"Junnie, papa will be scared!"
Jun flashed both them a deathly glare, they swore they could see fire in her eyes as a dark grimly music seemed to be playing in the background just like in those horror movies whenever the ghost was about to appear. "Do I look like I care?" Shaking them off harshly, Jun pulled back her jacket that had slipped off from her shoulder, huffing the air in annoyance. There was an urge inside her that spoke to her head to finally use her martial arts but Lucas told her to calm down, though that guy was still laughing his ass off.
Those two sat down together on the ground, hugging each other in fear. They should have not messed with her that early. Scratched that, they should not messed with her at all. Jun's patience was really low, her father should know that but he still dared to risk his life by bothering her with his usual nonsense. Sometimes, Jun had once thought that she was the guardian, not him. Mumbling curses in English fluently, Jun undid her ponytail to redo it, her hair was messed up thanked to them.
Makoto approached her. "Let me help you." He smiled softly, just lowered her hand to let him do it for her. Jun actually found herself leaning against him once his big figure stood behind her, breathing in and out. Somehow, she could feel at ease whenever Makoto was near her, perhaps it's because he had that motherly behavior—that got her thinking, how in the world did he not have any girlfriend now? He got the looks—oh he definitely had the look to charm girls, and he was a gentleman, a boyfriend material indeed.
Zen Samezuka found himself losing his breath, hyperventilating over a guy being so close to his princess. "You! Get away from Junnie immediately —"
"Ah, sorry sir—"
Jun groaned. "Would you please go to your school team and give them a pep talk or something?" She looked at Makoto and her hand touched his, making a gesture to him to proceed tying up her hair, ignoring the big baby stomping his feet on the ground to express his dissatisfaction. "Oh grow up, will you? Such a nuisance."
"Okay, Junnie."
Nagisa blinked his eyes yet he still continued swinging Jun's hand back and forth. "I haven't been here since last summer. I'm getting all fired up now! Jun-chan, let's win this! And let's go for a celebration after this!"
Jun furrowed her eyebrow. "And that will be on me, I suppose?"
"Of course! You're super rich!"
Haru turned his head towards Nagisa having money emojis in his eyes. "You're after her money?"
"Of course not!" Still had that money in his eyes.
Rei rolled his eyes, a proud grin then plastered all over his face. Last year, he was so nervous until he can't sleep a wink the night before but he believed he was different this year. Said, his physical condition was at its peak. Jun tuned their voices down knowing the conversation would be full of nonsense things, she closed her eyes for a moment and Makoto eventually told her that he was done with her hair. The sweet boy even held a mirror for her to have a look at her hair. Needles to say, she was surprised to see her ponytail actually had a brand new pin on top of it.
"Do you like it?" Makoto asked as he rubbed the back of his head shyly.
Jun softened her eyes. He was truly precious, for a quite buffed guy like him, Makoto was very gentle and soft. "Makoto, you don't have to—You have given me a lot of present already—"
Makoto blushed heavily. "Yesterday, I went out with the twins and they found this pin at a stall, said it will look pretty on you—Oh, I'm sorry if it's cheap—"
"It's perfect, Makoto. I don't mind the price." Jun took a look again in the mirror and a warmth stares to fill her heart, it was very kind of him and his siblings to remember her even if they were far from each other. And she only noticed it now that the pin had a crown on it. It really suited her. She touched it with her fingertips, feeling the electricity shot on her skin once her fingers brushed his. Simultaneously, their eyes met and she swore she did see Makoto had his eyes looked down on her slightly opened lips, the tension between had gotten too intimate.
"Thank you, Makoto."
His eyes darted to her alluring eyes, cheeks getting even redder. "It really suited you."
"Ehem!" Kou coughed loudly to gain their attention and Jun's eyes snapped to hers.
Apparently, everyone had stopped talking and they were all watching her and Makoto. Including Nagisa and Rei. Jun immediately looked away, facing backwards to hide her face from Makoto however, she could feel Haru's gaze on her. "Damn it, why did I lose myself there? Wasn't I the one who told them that I won't play love?" Jun bit her tongue at the end of her sentence and once she regained her composure, she turned back to others. Ama-sensei and the coach were there as well, no doubt they were her audience too.
Coach Sasabe grinned. "We'll be cheering hard for you today! And that means, Jun, raise your voice today! You're gonna be the loudest among us!" All this time, whenever they were cheering for their teammate, Jun had always been silent and even if she was forced to cheer along, she did it as if she was whispering. Knowing her, she would do it again this time. "Ya hear me?!"
Jun covered her ears. "Like hell I will shout." She mumbled.
"Hah? Wanna repeat that again?"
"Like hell I will shout." She did what he asked and Coach Sasabe was about to lose his patience, dealing with her had never been good. Jun snickered over his reaction, she had always adored to tease and mock him back. He was similar to her father in some kind of way and she loved to irritate him even more because of that. The coach started to pull his hair and Nagisa immediately held back his hands, saying he would lose his hair early before he could reach 50. "Yeah, listen to Nagisa. You didn't want to be single until 80 right?"
Coach Sasabe was sure all of his blood had rushed to his head. "Aish, this girl—someone please knock some sens—"
"Calm down old man, you don't wanna get yourself a myocardial infarction."
"Ahh!!"
Somewhere ahead, her eyes did catch a sight of her father standing in front of the Samezuka team and she was delighted to see Seijuro was there as well. Her eyes trailed his body up and down, he sure looked good. No doubt, he came along to watch his little brother and speaking of that, as if they could sense her thinking about them, both of them turned their heads towards her direction and in matter of time, both of them had came running towards her. Screaming her name loudly, they pushed each other's head to be the first person to be by her side.
"Jun-senpai!"
"Jun!"
"Oh hi boys—"
A loud smack was delivered to their heads. "STAY AWAY FROM MY PRINCESS!"
Jun slapped her forehead. "Did you just kill them?" She crouched down to take a look at their conditions, bubbles coming out of their mouths and they were hard as rock.
Zen Samezuka grinned proudly as if it was an achievement. "Even if I do, I could always clean up the mess like they don't exist in this world."
Rin Matsuoka blinked his eyes. "What was that again?"
"Just shut your mouth or I will lock you in the room alone with 'Another' anime played on the tv." Jun rubbed her face frustratedly.
Zen grabbed her arm desperately, immediately hugging her abdomen to rub his face onto her back. "No! Junnie, papa will get nightmares!"
Jun just marched forward, dragging him on the ground and eventually, his grip around was loosened with a single glare from her. She fixed her jacket for the hundred times already and headed forward to greet the boys from Samezuka. Seijuro and Momo quickly dropped their hands around each other's neck and one could see their waggling tails behind them once June approached them. It was adorable to see their reaction and amusing for sure. The girl only shook her head, laughing and everyone right there could feel the air suddenly lightened up each time she threw her head back melodically.
Rin could feel himself falling for her all over again. The way she took each step to come forward while shaking her head and laughing—every little thing she did was magical. It's as if he could hear romantic songs in the back, the wind gently flew to her face and her ponytail sometimes would get in her way but her hand will take care of it gracefully. Had he ever felt like this before? He wasn't sure but he sure knew he was head over heels for her. He would give her all his hours to see that expression of hers again.
"Jun-senpai!"
"Jun!"
The brothers glared at each other and Jun laughed even harder, patting their shoulders with her hands gently. "Alright, settle down boys." Her tone was playful but her face rather looked serious, teasing them more. But dang, Seijuro was so tall, even when she was considered tall for a girl, Jun only reached his nose. And she was puzzled herself when Seijuro dared to pull her hand towards his direction—no personal space for her but she wasn't complaining as her vision now was perfect, him sneakily leaned down to say hi and her heart skipped a beat once she felt his nose brushed hers.
"Nii-chan—how insolent—"
Seijuro pushed his brother's face away, shoving him aside with his huge palm. "Go away now, Momo. Let the adults talk."
Jun made a funny face at the way he worded it. But her breath was stolen when Seijuro raised her hand to slowly roll a beaded bracelet on her wrist. Seriously, what was the occasion for all the presents she received today? Seijuro had a smirk on his face as his fingers caressed her hand gently and sensually, and what's worse, he had the time to give her wrist a kiss once he finished putting the bracelet on. Her feet unconsciously took a few steps back in reply, she did not expect that.
He eventually let go of her hand, but still had that smirk on his lips. "Thought you can have a part of me with you." Now that she finally noticed it, that bracelet was the usual bracelet she saw him wearing before. As far as she remembered, that black beaded bracelet was his some kind of lucky charm. "I won't be needing this anymore, so take care of it for me, please?" His eyes were sincere and Jun found herself leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek.
Jun then raised her wrist to her lips for a kiss on the same spot where he put his lips on earlier, her eyes never once left his gaze even for a second. "You have my word, Seijuro and thank you." His cheeks turned red and she waved her hand to him before hurrying back to her team as Kou had started to call for her. But before she completely disappeared from his vision, Jun called out his name loudly for his attention. "You know, you are my first crush and friend here! And I'm very happy to see you here today! Make sure to cheer for me okay, Sei-chan?"
Yeah, Seijuro immediately fainted once he heard her words.
"Hah?! Nii-chan gets to have Jun-senpai?! She called him Sei-chan!?"
Rin looked away in jealousy. "Damn that idiot."
While at the back, Sosuke who was leaning against the bus only watched the scene happening in front of his eyes with an amused smirk. He never once thought that girl would be that bold. Perhaps, maybe he was interested in her as well. After all, she did cause an injury to his face during their first meeting. She was feisty, he liked that. He absolutely adored challenges yet he can't help but have a curiosity in his head about her. Why did she sometimes look at empty space and act as if there was someone standing there?
Back to the team, the boys were very excited to see lots of participants from different schools and Kou was acting bizarre, she was actually able to conceal herself from giggling and squealing at the sight of muscles. Apparently, it was because of her vow. Oh well, that didn't stop Jun from drooling over muscles herself. If it wasn't because of Haru holding her back, she would have flirted with every guy there. Haru did not expect that kind of behavior from her since Jun Samezuka seemed to be a very cold and distant person at first. But as time went by, she had changed.
Anyway, Nagisa was in the first match and Jun was repeatedly scolded by Coach Sasabe to join them cheering as she was just swinging the pom pom lazily. "You need to shout with flaming passion! LOUDER JUN, LOUDER!" Somewhere in the audience, a middle aged man was glaring at the back of the coach's head because he was yelling at his daughter, luckily he had the bodyguards to tape him to the chair or else Zen Samezuka would have came forward and choked him to death.
Jun covered her ears. "Shut up, I just don't like noises."
"Well that's too damn bad! Get up now!"
"Hell no."
Coach Sasabe sighed. "Free swimming in my pool for three days."
She quickly raised her head from her phone. "A week." As if she didn't have a pool in the backyard of her house.
He rolled his eyes. "Three days."
"Five days, with the rest. Take it or leave it."
The older man only gasped. Who was the dealer here anyway? He knew it was futile against her but eventually, he agreed and Jun grinned, taking the pom pom from him to stand up. Immediately she went to the rail and started to cheer for Nagisa. "Go, go, go Nagisa! Swim, swim, swim Nagisa! Yeayyyy!" Her attitude definitely changed 180°. Everyone was extremely shocked. She had never acted that way and Rei began to question her real personality since she could act differently that quickly.
The other swimmers were catching up to him but Jun knew he would be fine. After all, he had trained with her and his arms always stretched out as he neared the finish. There's nothing to worry about. And he won the first place and made it past the prelims. Jun jumped and bounced on her feet excitedly but once everything settled down, she quickly threw the pom pom away and sat down on the chair to continue playing games on her phone, baffling everyone. She did not just act she wasn't squealing a few seconds ago.
Jun blew the bubblegum in her mouth. "What?"
"Nothing." Makoto smiled awkwardly.
Rei blinked his eyes. "Wow, she is really able to change emotions that quick."
Haru nodded. "That's impressive."
She smirked in satisfaction. "That, my dears, is called talent."
29/4/23
Seijuro is really attractive.